Ithink this might be on wood, maybe some kind of veneer?
O.k. Here are better pictures. I finally got up the nerve to take the tape off the back that was holding it together. It isn't a painting or a carving. It has tiny little horizontal lines going across it in places and some flaking at the top. I think the board the work is on might be some kind of enamel. The frame is wood. Heavy Weight No. 110 100 % Rag cold press surface illustration board by crescent cardboard company. The illustration board had been there a while because I can see where the nails that were originally against it had rusted their outline on it.
The board held the work in place and there was no glass in front to protect it. I think the backing that originally sealed it in might have been something like black crepe. Some of it is still stuck to the frame. Could it be a lithograph?
It's got carved out like places, but it is like enamel that the work is on. It does have lines going across it like the illustrations in old books. It kind of shines when the light hits it like maybe some kind of metallic powder was mixed in with the colors. I've never seen anything like it.
